Sponsored by David and Deborah Brown

Antheil | McKonkey’s Ferry Overture
Ravel | Piano Concerto in G Major
-Clayton Stephenson, piano Mr. Stephenson appears by arrangement with The Cliburn
Berlioz | Symphonie Fantastique

Inspired by the French influence on the success of the American Revolution, this program transports the audience back to a time when freedom was on the line. Pianist Clayton Stephenson returns to Lexington Symphony to mark this opening night with his brilliant interpretation of Ravel!

Sponsored by Kate & Gordon Baty and Martha Segal

Ives | Three Places in New England 1st Movement “The ‘St. Gaudens’ in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and His Colored Regiment)”
Nielsen | Symphony No. 4 “The Inextinguishable”
Holst | The Planets

Experience works that exemplify the human spirit of the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Ives is a local Massachusetts story. Nielsen and Holst were influenced by what was in the air during WW1 — humanity’s desire to live in freedom from oppression.

Support for Holiday POPS! by Karen & Mart Ojamaa, and Marc Rubenstein & Jill Hai. Additional funding for KIDS POPS! by the Russian School of Mathematics - Lexington

Featuring WCRB’s LAURA CARLO, narrating Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker & The Mouse King, adapted by Jonathan McPhee, New World Chorale, Lexington Children’s Chorus under the auspices of Lexington Music School, and special guest, Santa Claus!

Our signature holiday event!  

Every year, our Holiday POPS! concerts explore a different facet of this most wonderful time of the year. Celebrate the magic of the holidays with us!

Please note that Holiday POPS! will take place on the first week of December this year.

Sponsored by the Gamota Family in support of the Ukrainian People

Hindemith | Mathis der Maler
Vaughan Williams | Sea Symphony -Aaron Engebreth, baritone -Michelle Trainor, soprano -New World Chorale

Hindemith composed Mathis der Maler to portray the emotional struggle of humanity against the Nazis. Ralph Vaughn William’s Sea Symphony depicts American poet Walt Whitman’s poem of brave sailors in vast oceans voyaging through life.

Sponsored by Winfield and Linda Perry

Still | In Memoriam
Lidström | World Premiere
-Mats Lidström, cello
Beethoven | Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”

Cellist Mats Lidström performs a world premiere based on a Robert F. Kennedy speech during his bid for the American Presidency. William Grant Still’s In Memoriam memorializes the forgotten Black soldiers who fought for our country in the Civil War. The “heroic” Third Symphony expresses Beethoven’s belief in the indomitable spirit of mankind.

Sponsored by Kip Connor & Linh Vong. Pipa soloist is sponsored by Bin Wu and Family in recognition of the Chinese American Association of Lexington.

Hewitt | The Battle of Trenton Wu, Wang, Liu | Little Sisters of the Prairie. Wu, Liu | Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night
-Cao Yue, pipa Decruck | Symphonie Orientale Ó Riada | Mise Éire

Our season finale opens with James Hewitt’s The Battle of Trenton and explores the attitudes, mistakes and reasons people emigrated to America. Those stories are represented through the music immigrants brought with them, enriching our nation despite the challenges they faced. While the stories are as varied as was America’s attitude toward immigrants, these stories are important because all those who came to America looked for a new beginning and hope for the future — which has been America’s promise.